Vitamin D may help reduce type 2 diabetes risk
Monday Oct 19, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study published in the Sept 200 9 issue of British Journal of Nutrition suggests that taking vitamin D supplements may help prevent type 2 diabetes.
The small trial shows that taking 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily for six months significantly improved insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance in South Asian women.
Insulin resistance is a condition in which normal amounts of insulin do not result in normal insulin response. Insulin resistance leads to high levels of insulin and glucose which are believed to be the origin of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, according to wikipedia.
In the trial, the study group of 42 women were given 4,000 IU or 100 mug of vitamin D3 while the control group of 39 women given placebo daily for six months. All women aged 23 to 68 years were insulin resistant and had serum 25(OH)D concentration at less than 50 nmol/L. They were not taking diabetes medications nor took vitamin D supplements in a dose of more than 25 mug.
P.R von Hurst and colleagues from Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, authors of the trial report, found a significant increase in the serum vitamin D level from 21 to 75 nmol/L in women taking vitamin D supplements.
In the study subjects, insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance were significantly improved in women on vitamin D3 supplementation compared to those on placebo. Fasting insulin was reduced in the study group and insulin resistance was most improved when the serum 25(OH)D reached more than 80 nmol/L.
The researchers found supplementation of vitamin D3 did not change insulin secretion and the optimal vitamin D concentrations for reducing insulin resistance were 80 to 119 nmol/L.
Insulin resistance does not only raise risk of diabetes, but also obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 abnormal cholesterol levels, heart disease and polycystic ovarian syndrome in women, according to webmd.com.
For more information on vitamin D and diabetes, visit the website of Vitamin D Council.
By David Liu - davidl at foodconsumer dot org
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Pregnant and nursing mothers should be made aware of the fact that the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTtmvMvgfl0">incidence of Type 1 Diabetes is reduced by 80% in those who remain vitamin D replete</a> in the first year of life.
It should also be more widely known that <a href="http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/bfm.2008.9984">human breast milk only flows replete with vitamin D3</a> when 25(OH)D is raised to around 60ng/ml 150nmol/l.
It's not just autoimmune conditions such as Type 1 diabetes that is prevented by adequate maternal vitamin D status. Gestational Diabetes is also associated with low 25(OH)D.
Vitamin D status controls brain development and so low maternal vitamin D status is associated with poor maternal and fetal outcomes.
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